Right about now, you’re starting to see the first twinkling of holiday lighting. Even among industry professionals, the red and green waves that presage Christmas quickly blend into the background. That is, until you turn the corner on a neighborhood like Howard Beach, in Queens, N.Y., where traffic slows to a crawl for over a month as people converge from the tri-state area to gawk at lighting displays that cost tens of thousands of dollars.
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While the entertainment world was busy romancing the new generation of LED sources, physicists and electronic techs were busy marrying two technologies that would soon yield another lamp source to rival LEDs in efficiency and surpass them in other areas. The new LiFi solid-state plasma lamp is a tiny bulb, radio-frequency power supply, and electronic circuit that puts out a tremendous amount of light in a very efficient manner.
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When Al Gore was the vice president, he created the Hammer Award to recognize people in the U.S. government who helped eliminate inefficiency and waste. The award consisted of a $6 hammer wrapped with a red, white, and blue ribbon, and mounted in a glass encased frame. Apparently the idea for the award came at least in part from the discovery that the U.S. Navy once paid $436 for a single hammer.
Read More »Recently I journeyed to the Mecca of Illumination to study at the feet of the master guru of LEDs. I trained with the legendary leader for weeks and meditated on the growing energy of LED lighting programming. My teacher enlightened me about the ever-increasing importance for an automated lighting programmer to master the Zen of controlling LED products. Through focused visualization, the guru shared an assortment of methods, tips and essentials to help me find my own path of LED illumination.
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I’ve lit a lot of things before — televised events, concerts, trade shows, cars, boats and planes. But I’ve never lit a church. In fact, I have never had any contact with this whole side of the lighting industry (though I wish I did). So I had to smile when I got a call to light some choirs. But they were not in any church; they were in a touring arena show.
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VIENNA, Austria — An 85-square-meter screen is part of Baz Halpin’s signature look for the Queen + Paul Rodgers The Cosmos Rocks tour, but so is the way the screen and the set move about. That’s accomplished with a 48-way Kinesys automation system with Vector control, operated by Barry Branford. In all, the show has about 30 automation cues.
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ATLANTA — Lasers, moving lights and imagery from Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings archive aren’t the only elements adding visual interest to Coldplay’s Viva La Vida tour. (See “Wide Angle,” PLSN, Oct. 2008). A collaboration between LD Paul Normandale, XL Video and Pufferfish and others has resulted in internally projected spheres looming above the performers.
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UNCASVILLE, CT — Staind is using new gear including Martin’s 1,500-watt MAC III Profile for the band’s tour of the U.S. and Europe in support of their latest release, The Illusion of Progress. Michael Cooper, lighting designer and programmer, had used Martin gear previously and was willing to give the new profile spots a try.
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EL PASO, TX — The Abundant Living Faith Center (ALFC) is a nondenominational, multicultural church with over 15,000 active members and a mix of ministries and activities. After a major expansion and renovation project, the church features a new 3,600-seat main auditorium where 36 PixelPar 90s light up the backdrop in a variety of colors.
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NYMPSFIELD, U.K. — Lighting designer Andy Webb of Tigz Productions recently lit a production of Goth at Woodchester Mansion, an unfinished Gothic revival structure created by William Leigh but abandoned by its builders in 1870 and now only occupied, according to local legend, by ghosts.
Read More »LAS VEGAS — ESTA presented its 2008 Eva Swan Award to Tim Hansen in recognition of his service to the association over many years. The award was presented at ESTA’s Annual Dinner by the 2005 Swan recipient, Wally Blount. Blount had worked with Hansen on the development of the Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP).
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LONDON — With 59 sold out dates and a total audience estimated at 400,000, the Lee Evans Big Tour is measuring up to be the U.K.’s largest comedy tour of 2008, and the laughter from way back in the balcony can be credited at least in part to a very large LED screen.
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